When her aunt’s health began to deteriorate in the fall of 2005, Nilofer would…
2023
When her aunt’s health began to deteriorate in the fall of 2005, Nilofer would make the drive from Washington, DC to Winchester, VA every few days.
Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and tedious. She preferred to take meandering back roads to her aunt’s hospital. When she drove through the rocky town of Harpers Ferry, the beauty of the rough waters churning at the intersection of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers always captivated her.
Toward the end of her journey, Nilofer had to get on highway 99. It was here that she discovered a surprising bit of beauty during one of her trips. Along the median of the highway, there was a long stretch of wild blossom. They were small and attractive and red, and swayed in the air as if listening to poems from each other.
The first time she saw the blossom, Nilofer was seized by an uncontrollable urge to pull over on the highway and yank a bunch from the soil. She carried them into her aunt’s room when she arrived at the hospital and placed them in a water pitcher by her bed.
For a moment her aunt seemed more lucid than usual. She thanked Nilofer for the blossom, commented on their beauty and asked where she had gotten them. Nilofer was overjoyed by the ability of the blossom to wake something up inside her ailing aunt. Afterwards, Nilofer began carrying scissors in the car during her trips to visit her aunt. She would quickly glide onto the shoulder, jump out of the car, and clip a bunch of blossom. Each time Nilofer placed the blossom in the pitcher, her aunt’s eyes would light up and they would have a splendid conversation.
One morning in late August, Nilofer got a call that her aunt had taken a turn for the worse. Nilofer was in such a hurry to get to her aunt that she sped past her flower spot. She decided to turn around, head several miles back, and cut a bunch.
Nilofer arrived at the hospital to find her aunt very weak and unresponsive. She placed the blossom in the pitcher and sat down to hold her aunt’s hand. She felt a squeeze on her fingers. It was the last conversation they had.
"Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and tedious."
Which of the following is the best way to rewrite the above sentence, while keeping its original meaning?
- A.
Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and confusing
- B.
Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and time-consuming
- C.
Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and nerve-wracking
- D.
Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and monotonous
Attempted by 3 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: A best-rewrite / synonym-substitution question asks for a word that keeps the ORIGINAL word's precise shade of meaning, not just a loose dictionary synonym. Two words can overlap in general sense yet diverge on register, duration, clarity, or emotional charge -- so the replacement must match the specific nuance the sentence needs, especially when it forms a reinforcing doublet with another descriptive word (here, "boring and ___").
Application: In the passage, "tedious" describes highway driving as dull, repetitive, and wearisome -- the same flat quality "boring" already points to, so the two words reinforce each other. Checking each candidate against that specific nuance:
"confusing" shifts the axis to clarity/understanding, not dullness or repetition.
"time-consuming" shifts the axis to duration -- a short drive could still be time-consuming without being dull in the same repetitive way.
"nerve-wracking" shifts the axis to anxiety and tension, which even sits at odds with "boring" rather than reinforcing it.
"monotonous" keeps the same repetitive-dullness sense as "tedious," so "boring and monotonous" stays a consistent doublet.
Cross-check: This reading matches the passage's own framing: Nilofer "preferred to take meandering back roads" precisely because the highway offered no variation, and the later stretch of wild-blossom is presented as a surprising break from that sameness. The word needed is one that reads as unvaryingly the same, not merely unclear, lengthy, or tense.
Result: "Nilofer hated highway driving, finding it boring and monotonous" preserves the original meaning most closely.